Ice storm

New Member

At the risk of becoming a bit irritating, here's another question. Re. the terrible ice storm in the USA that's making world-wide news at the moment; are there RVs that are built to cope with winter conditions? How easy are they to keep comfortable in the winter months? Trouble with plumbing freezing?

Senior Member

There are some RVs which are billed as '4 season'. The good ones will have dual pane windows, extra insulation and enclosed and heated tank bays. So some will handle 'serious' cold (perhaps as low as -10 degrees or so). However, you will need to be careful of anything outside of the trailer, like your water or sewer connection.

New Member

One thing though, wouldn't a rig like that be pretty pricey? Excessive for our friend from the U.K. to invest in? Or, wouldn't he be better off re-routing himself to be South during the coldest months?

New Member

One thing though, wouldn't a rig like that be pretty pricey? Excessive for our friend from the U.K. to invest in? Or, wouldn't he be better off re-routing himself to be South during the coldest months?

My original thoughts had been to do exactly that - keep south in the winter. But for various reasons we've been persuaded that we should be retracing our initial steps towards the end of our trip. So we're going to have to plan with bad weather in mind. A big worry in that respect is not so much freezing ourselves - I'm sure as long as we keep a careful eye on supplies/fuel we can keep comfortable. Its more to do with the external plumbing.

John (hertig) said, "However, you will need to be careful of anything outside of the trailer, like your water or sewer connection." To which I can only ask, what precautions can I take in this respect?

As you say Tom, things could get pricey. And I need to budget for all this.

Senior Member

If you expect to spend significant time in areas of very cold weather, then you would be well advised to purchase a quality RV and most of the better ones are at least to some degree prepared for cold weather. Things like extra insulation, tanks and plumbing enclosed in heated storage bays and dual pane windows are readily available on all of the better quality RVs today. It is true that you won't be able to get the very cheapest one out there, but that would be a mistake anyway if you plan to spend much time in it and to expect reliability from it.

I strongly suggest that you spend the money to become a member of the RV Consumer Group and learn who makes quality RVs and how to judge one. It could save you from making a bad mistake when you purchase. Just visit www.rv.org